Alexa Meyer, MD, and collaborators at Columbia University in New York identified 3,252 patients who underwent RP. The group included 830, 1,746, and 676 patients with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease, respectively. The median follow-up was 94.2 months.

While the overall PSM rate was 26.8%, it was 14.6%, 27.5%, and 39.9% in the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively. The overall median survival was significantly lower for the PSM than the negative margin group (20.14 vs. 20.58 years). The median survival also differed significantly among the 3 risk groups. It was 20.33 and 19.52 years for the intermediate- and high-risk groups, respectively, and was not yet reached for the low-risk group. Within each risk group, however, PSMs had no impact on survival.

When controlling for adverse features, PSMs are not independently associated with survival, the researchers concluded in a poster presentation. “This suggests that margin status is a surrogate for established risk criteria and disease biology, and should not be interpreted as a unique prognostic factor.”